You're not alone. I'm not sure what the club thinks he'll be, and Abreu probably isn't, either. He was signed as a shortstop, was turned into a second baseman, then filled in nicely at shortstop during Spring Training when Rafael Furcal was injured and has been playing second, short and third at Triple-A this season.

When Andy LaRoche was promoted to the Major League club, Abreu played three consecutive games at third base. Since then, he's been shuttled through all three positions. Farm director De Jon Watson said Abreu will continue to see time at all three.

What's the update on Larry Bigbie?
-- Steve L., West Palm Beach, Fla.

He's cooled off after hitting .400 at Triple-A Las Vegas through April. When left-handed hitter Marlon Anderson was placed on the disabled list last weekend, the left-handed hitting Bigbie was passed over as management promoted LaRoche to play third base. Bigbie has a June 1 escape clause in his contract, which he plans to exercise if he's not called up to the Dodgers before then, and there's no reason to think he will be.

Whose contract ends after the 2007 season?
-- Betty R., Inglewood, Calif.

Possible Dodgers free agents are Anderson, Luis Gonzalez, Jeff Kent (2008 option), Mike Lieberthal (2008 option), Ramon Martinez (2008 option), Olmedo Saenz, Rudy Seanez, Brett Tomko (2008 option) and Randy Wolf (2008 option).

What draft picks have the Dodgers lost and gained through free agency?
-- Larry H., Welches, Ore.

The Dodgers will draft 20th in the first round in next month's First-Year Player Draft, a pick they received from Boston for the loss of Julio Lugo. Their original first-round pick, No. 22, went to the San Francisco Giants for the signing of Jason Schmidt. The Dodgers also picked up overall pick No. 39 for losing Lugo.

What's wrong with James Loney?
-- Roger S., Inglewood, Calif.

I assume you are talking about his batting average, which has been more than 100 points lower this year at Triple-A Las Vegas than it was last year. The most likely explanation is that he's been trying to hit home runs, which has never been his game, and it has taken away from his natural line-drive swing. Loney did hit a home run with the first pitch he saw this year, but he hasn't hit one since. One club official said Loney detected a flaw in his stance a week ago and has been trying to iron it out.

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Nobody can really tell what psychological effect it has on a player when he leads an entire level of professional baseball in batting average and is sent back for a second year, but it's probably safe to assume it can wear on you, especially when you see teammates (LaRoche, Chin-hui Tsao) promoted past you.

Why isn't Hong-Chi Kuo starting at Las Vegas anymore?
-- James L., Monterey Park, Calif.

Kuo is another player who is getting bounced around because of numbers, although he was favored to be in the starting rotation until he hurt his shoulder during Spring Training. Kuo is proven better at starting than relieving, but it's hard to make an argument that Kuo deserves to bump any of the Dodgers' current starters. Because of that, and because manager Grady Little was concerned that the club might need a long reliever during this current stretch, Kuo was sent back to the Las Vegas bullpen.

Concurrently, the Dodgers have stretched out rehabbing former closer Yhency Brazoban to two innings in each of his last two appearances. Now if they need a long reliever, they can tap either of them. The problem is that neither is truly a long reliever.